The Margin: Five things to know about Dev Shah, the new Scripps National Spelling Bee champ

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There’s a new top speller in town.

Dev Shah, a 14-year-old resident of Largo, Fla., claimed championship honors at the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was held in Maryland on Thursday. The competition, now in its 95th year, comes with a first-place cash award of $50,000, plus other prizes.

So, how did the new champ make his way to the top? Here are five things to know about Shah and his victory.

This wasn’t his first rodeo (er, spelling bee)

Shah, an eighth-grader, tied for the 76th spot in the 2021 competition, and he also tied for 51st place in the 2019 one. (The 2020 competition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) But Shah failed to make it back to the finals in 2022. So this year’s competition was his last shot, since the Scripps National Spelling Bee is only open to spellers up through the eighth grade.

What was his winning word?

Shah claimed his prize in the 15th round, after spelling “psammophile” correctly. According to Merriam-Webster, the word refers to “an organism that prefers or thrives in sandy soils or areas.” Before giving the spelling, Shah confirmed the word’s origins — “psammo” refers to sand and “phile” to lover in Greek. He also requested the definition of the word, and asked to hear it used in a sentence (the response: “Any psammophile — for example, a cactus — would flourish in the Arizona desert”).

How many competitors did he beat?

A total of 229 spellers made it to this year finals, but 11 million students compete at the school level, according to the Associated Press. Charlotte Walsh, a 14-year-old resident of Arlington, Va., came in second, winning a not-so-shabby runner-up prize of $25,000. (Walsh lost her chance at the top prize when she misspelled “daviely,” which means listlessly, according to Merriam-Webster.)

How did Shah prepare for the Bee?

In the past year, he’s devoted 10 hours a day to studying his spelling, according to The New York Times. The Associated Press also noted that Shah added an exercise routine to help with his mental focus.

So, does he do anything in his spare time apart from all the spelling stuff?

According to the Bee website, his hobbies include reading, playing tennis, mastering the cello and solving math problems with his friends. His favorite athlete is tennis ace Roger Federer, and his favorite movie is “La La Land.”